Faculty
Jane Drexler
Professor of Philosophy, Department Chair
Jane Drexler is a Professor of Philosophy at Salt Lake Community College. Since arriving at SLCC in 2007, Drexler has served as Faculty Senate President and in several other faculty leadership roles. She received the 2022 Award of Merit for Outstanding Leadership and Achievements in the Teaching of Philosophy from the American Association of Philosophy Teachers, and has also earned the SLCC Foundation Teaching Excellence Award in 2016, and the National Blackboard Catalyst Award for Exemplary Course design in 2010.
Drexler is a presenter, contributor and participant in the Philosophy as a Way of Life Project, funded by the National Endowment of Humanities and by the Mellon Foundation. She has served on the Executive Board of the American Association of Philosophy Teachers (AAPT) and on the American Philosophy Association's (APA) Committee on Teaching Philosophy. She also serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Teaching Philosophy, the premier journal for the discipline's pedagogy in the U.S.
Drexler has had essays published in general-audience and peer-reviewed journals and books, including Philosophers in the Classroom (Hackett, 2018), a collection of essays from 24 of the discipline's most award-winning professors. Currently, Drexler is co-editing a special issue on Teaching Philosophy as a Way of Life for the AAPT Studies in Pedagogy journal.
Jane is a recreational cyclist, beginner rock climber, not-bad guitarist, not-great violinist, somewhat-adventurous hiker, and occasional world-traveler; who sometimes prefers to binge-watch Netflix than to read a philosophical tome.
Education
- Ph.D., Philosophy, Binghamton University (SUNY), 2004
- M.A., Philosophy, Binghamton University (SUNY), 2001
- B.A., Philosophy, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, 1997
- B.A., Communications (Media Production), University of Colorado-Colo Springs, 1992
Areas of Specialization
- Ethical Theory and Applied Ethics
- Social and Political Philosophy
- Feminist Theory
- Environmental Ethics
- Philosophy as a Way of Life (esp. Ancient Philosophy)
Professional Website:
Alexander Izrailevsky
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Born in Kiev, Ukraine. After getting his degrees in Philosophy, worked as Professor of Philosophy at Siberian Technical University (Krasnoyarsk, Russia) (1974-1987), and Chair of this Department (1987-1999). After immigration to the U.S., from 2000 worked at SLCC as Assistant Professor of Philosophy, and Associate Philosophy Professor (from 2007 to present).
Education
Dr. Alexander Izrailevsky has received both his Bachelor and Master Degree in Philosophy from Ural University (Ekaterinburg, Russia).
In 1981 he has received his PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) from the Russian Academy of Philosophy (Siberian Branch, Novosibirsk). His PhD Dissertation, "The Structural Approach to the Social Sciences (Structuralism of Claude Levi-Strauss)" was dedicated to French Structuralism. His individual post-graduate research program was in Paris, France, under the supervision of Dr. Emmanuel Levinas. The field of his academic expertise is modern French Philosophy, French Structuralism, French Phenomenology, Philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas.
Dr. Alexander Izrailevsky is focused on two main Philosophy Courses at SLCC: PHIL 1000 Intro to Philosophy, and PHIL 1120 Social Ethics, and upon students' requests, PHIL 1900 Special Studies in Philosophy.
Campus:
South City
Building:
SCM
Room:
3-186 J
Phone:
Email:
Adjunct Faculty
Shannon Atkinson, M.A. FHEA
Instructor
Shannon has been an Instructor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at SLCC since 2005 and has been an adjunct at Utah Valley University in Philosophy since 2010. He is a graduate of the University of Utah in Philosophy and has an emphasis in the Philosophy of Religion. His research revolved around religions that use psychedelics for religious purposes and the ethical, political, and social implications surrounding these issues. Shannon teaches Ethics and Values (PHIL 2050), Introduction to Philosophy (PHIL 1000), Philosophy of Religion (PHIL 2350) and World Religions (RELS 2300).
Shannon has made teaching excellence his primary goal and is a 2013 SLCC Teaching Excellence Award winner. A 2016 Wolverine Achievement Award winner. He was awarded the UVU Faculty Senate Teaching Excellence Award in 2018 and in 2019 became an FHEA Fellow.
Shannon is fluent in Portuguese after living in Brazil to go to school and play soccer. He is an avid hiker, outdoors enthusiast, pickleball wanna-be, and he has a sense of humor to compliment such serious studies.
Jason Goltz
Instructor
Jason Goltz was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona and has philosophy degrees from Northern Arizona University (B.A. ’92), the University of Wyoming (M.A. ’95), and the University of Utah (Ph.D. ’02). He has taught at SLCC since the fall of 2013 and teaches classes in philosophy, ethics, critical thinking, and religion. Besides SLCC, Jason has also taught at Westminster College, Weber State University, and Independence University. In addition to teaching, Jason served on an ethics committee at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center and was the Humanities chair for the Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. In his spare time, he enjoys movies, sports, heavy metal, and jazz fusion
Greg Spendlove, MA
Instructor
I have a master's degree focusing on philosophy of religion and have been teaching philosophy and religion courses since 2004. I'm interested in nearly every area of philosophy, with particular enthusiasm for metaethics, philosophy of religion, and issues related to free will. When I'm not thinking about philosophy, I enjoy gaming with friends, exploring the world with my wife, and playing various styles of music on my guitars, including classical, jazz, and especially heavy metal.